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The biography of THE GRAND TRICK
The heavy rock quintet The Grand Trick is widely influenced and parts of the band´s music arises from the '70s rock scene, but that shall not be associated with some kind of "rip-off". The roots of the music can be found if you listen to Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin among others, and with these roots the band develops it to The Grand Trick. The band has a lot of influences not only from the '70s, so it's a glorious mix.
The chapters of this story is divided into five different years. Every year contains some rises and falls of the heavy rock band The Grand Trick.
Let´s figure out how it all started...
2003
A new era has begun. This is Linköping. A middle-sized town in Sweden. Bass player Jonas Malmqvist and drummer Daniel Larsson with origin from the local act "Bones", decide to move on and shatter the band. The idea of a band with elements from the early days of rock music is growing inside the two youngsters heads.
During a night in a jar of decadence Jonas hooked up with Michael Karlsson who as well was into the ´70 s rock music, and he was completely spellbound by the conception to form a new band. Some days later Michael brought his guitar to the rehearsal local of ex "Bones" and was introduced to Daniel. The roller coaster ride was just about to begin and in may 2003 Jonas Malmqvist, Daniel Larsson and Michael Karlsson formed "The Grand Trick". For a couple of months the trio was known as "Fireball". It wasn't until another heated night of wild partying that the name "The Grand Trick" came up.
For a short while Michael's friend Christian Bingmark handled the second guitar and also did the vocals. It only remains some rare demo tapes from those days. Anyway, Christian had not the same visions as the rest of the band and was presented with an ultimatum, and he eventually decided to quit the band.
In september 2003 the remaining trio recorded a 4-track EP-CD entitled "The First Trick". Since The Grand Trick lacked a lead singer at the time, this release features Michael on the vocals. This is also a very rare release with only a few copies.
Stefan Johansson was known from the Swedish death/black-metal act "Satanic Slaughter" and got the request to join "The Grand Trick". And of course he couldn't resist that offer and joined the band sometime during September. Shortly after, an audition was held on the lookout for a vocalist. A friend of Stefan had heard the rumours and decided to show up to give it a try. Daniel Sandberg competed with two other applicants but eventually secured a place in the band. For the first time the line-up was completed.
At the moment Daniel Larsson had access to a recording studio and the thoughts of made use of this opportunity was in every band members minds. But just a month before "The Grand Trick" was supposed to enter the studio they got their very first gig at the local club "The Rock" in Linköping. "A small step for mankind but a giant leap for The Grand Trick". That night the band performed the four songs from "The First Trick" which later was about to be re-recorded. "The First Trick" was re-recorded at OFO Studio in Linköping December 2003. Recorded and mixed by Daniel Larsson. With this EP The Grand Trick managed to reach an agreement with Record Heaven.
2004
The Grand Trick was offered worldwide distribution of "The First Trick" via Record Heaven and the comprised work on the promotion resulted in great response. This was also the beginning of preliminary negotiations for an up-coming full-length album, and late hours in the rehearsal local eventually shaped "The Decadent Session".
The band was given incoherent time in the studio which is the reason for the lengthy session. TGT entered the studio for the first time in July. The most intensively recording sessions were held during the autumn. It was supposed to be ten tracks on the album but the band decided to delete a ballad they felt dissatisfied with. The last track; "Dog on a leash" was more or less finished in the rehearsal local just a day before it was recorded.
In the middle of the recording session Daniel Sandberg had to leave the band to stay abroad for six months. Instead of slow things down the band decided to recruit vocalist Johan Dahnberg. Since Daniel Sandberg's parts on the album was unfinished it was deleted and replaced with the vocals of Johan.
2005
In the beginning of this year the recording of "The Decadent Session" was practically finished. It only remained the final touch in form of some adjustments in the mixer. Due to various muddles the record company could not release the product in early 2005 which was the main goal. Delays are very common in the music business which is often mutual to both sides, musicians and labels. Anyhow, while the album was waiting to be released, The Grand Trick had a great time on the road and performed the songs from the yet unreleased masterpiece. It was not until about half a year later that the album was supposed to meet its bright future. "The Decadent Session" was officially released August 15th by distributors Record Heaven's own label Transubstans Records. It received great reviews all over the world and the result of the work on the promotion brought the band to a new level. During this year the line-up of the band was unchanged.
2006
The writing on the second full-length with the working title "Delirium" had just begun combined with touring to promote "The Decadent Session". Actually the writing of the follow-up album had already begun in the year of 2005, but this time a studio was booked and The Grand Trick was supposed to enter it during the summer. Unfortunately, like always, additional difficulties cropped up gradually and the schedule had been dislocated. The entering of this well-known Swedish studio was postponed indefinitely, and in the waiting to record the second album under the great conditions of Studio Fredman, The Grand Trick decided to chose a different studio to record an album teaser in form of a mini-CD.
"She's On The Run" was recorded in September 2006. Due to family matters Johan Dahnberg decided to leave the band and did his last performance with the band in late December when the official release party was held.
By this time Record Heaven also had expanded their distribution and offered The Grand Trick an agreement regarding worldwide digital distribution of "The Decadent Session".
2007
In the beginning of this year negotiations regarding worldwide distribution of "She's On The Run" through Turmic Records had started. TGT also recruited vocalist Kalle Sellbrink, and at the same time guitarist Michael Karlsson decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. When Michael left the band it only remained two original members, Jonas Malmquist and Daniel Larsson. But the most fairly is to consider Stefan Johansson as an original member too, since the band actually didn't got going for real until Stefan entered the band not long after it was formed. Michael was replaced by Tobias Bergström.
The up-coming album will be recorded in a near future.
To be continued...
